His Hands
by Kozarr
Summary: When theirs nothing left to you but a bunch of broken pieces, where do you go to have them put back together? AU/OOC
1. Shattering

**A/N**: Hey guys, check it out. This is going to be my first serious fiction that is more then a oneshot (and that I have passion for). It's going to be AU, It's all first person, and it won't be following the manga or anime. Alright, let's get this started then shall we?

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Ch1. Shattering

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I was hiding. I'd been hiding all day. I couldn't let anyone find me, because if they found me, I knew what would happen. They would ask what happened, and for that, I had no answer. Sure, I did know why there was a dark bruises forming on my back, but I would never tell anyone. If I did, then there would only be trouble. Alcohol and abuse. Just like last night. Besides, was there anyone worth telling? I couldn't trust anyone. I had no friends, not by the normal definition at any rate.

What was I thinking? I had almost forgotten that there was someone in my life I could go to for comfort and trust not to pry. With him in my mind, I got up, put on a brave face, dried up all my tears, and made my way to his house. The walk there was calming. There was something relaxing about the still night air, slightly chilly air, and the ability to feel myself move forward despite the horrors that had commenced the night prier.

I took my mind away from thinking about that night. Instead, I thought about him. He was truly my best friend. And so it was that I walked up his front step's feeling comforted just by the idea of seeing him open the door with open arms. At that point I was feeling tremendously exerted and I just wanted to sleep. As it was, I knocked on the door to hear footsteps coming closer, and when my knee's gave out, I was caught by gentle hands.

There he was, his snowy white hair, his passionate red eyes, and his gentle arms. That's all I cared to register. I knew he was trying to talk to me, but his soft skin holding me close was kind of shadowing out my ability to register words in my brain. To describe how I felt at that very moment was just pure relief. After only 30 seconds of heartbreak, I was broken enough to kill myself. It took only his presence to push that all away. Even while I was walking, the agony and pain was lurking like a monster, ready to strike should I display the opportunity. Now it was gone, vanquished, all thanks to my closest friend.

"Maka! Would you please answer me? Are you okay?" A worried voice struck through to my eardrums. With that, I snapped from my trance and looked at him for a few seconds before replying.

"Soul...I need you." I knew he wasn't stupid enough to take that the wrong way. Soul knew that I had a boyfriend. I supposed he knew not to pry, as I assumed he would, because he led me to the room in his apartment that had spent many a night in. Yes that's right, I had stayed here on the nights that my father had forgotten to pick me up. That was often, mind you. Sure soul had offered me many rides, but I always refused, preferring to spend my time away from that horrible excuse for a dad.

Soul waited until I sat on the bed before he grabbed some blankets and tea, handing me the warm, sweet smelling cup of liquid and placing the blanket over my shoulders. With that done, he watched as I slowly sipped the tea. I was fine for only a few seconds before the glass began to fall. Soul caught it and set it on the end table in a swift movement before quickly crawling under the blanket with me and holding me tightly.

At that point there were rivulets of salty tears cascading down my cheeks and increasingly loud sobs were erupting from my mouth. My whole body began to shake and I could feel the delicate pieces of me start to detach. Suddenly I was shattering all over again, only this time the hands on my body were telling me everything was going to be okay. These hands held me gently, and I couldn't thank Soul more for being there at that moment.

The night progressed, and I sobbed and yelled for about two hours before my voice gave out entirely and I could only heave raspy sounding gasps of oxygen into my lungs. Tears were dried on to my skin and I was still shaking mildly, but Soul was still holding me and it made me feel much better. I ignored the agonizing pain in my now raw throat and heart, and pressed closer to him, drawing comfort. I was still breathing heavily, but I somehow felt very relaxed after crying my pains out. It was probably due to those very gentle arms and the strong warm body that belonged to Soul.

I wondered only for a second if he was going to get up and leave when I let go of him to lay down and sleep. But I knew it was stupid of me to wonder, he was my best friend for a reason. As I laid down, partly curled up, and facing away from him, I felt the blanket move away from his body. He got under the blanket again and shuffled closer to me, then gently tapped my shoulder. "Maka, turn over okay?"

Normally after the night prier, I would have rejected sleeping in the same bed as anybody, but tonight I really needed Soul there next to me or there was no telling what might have happened. I rolled over slowly to face him, and was comforted even more by the unending depths of tenderness and love in his eyes. I knew he was in love with me, but I also knew that wasn't why he was so keen to share my bed. He truly was my best friend. My head found it's way under his chin and his arms snaked around my stomach, those hands of his resting on my back and pulling me as close as they could.

It was in that position, his warmth giving me comfort and hope, that we both fell asleep. I had thought that would be the only time that I would be at his house in such a state. I was so terribly wrong.

* * *

I don't know what time it was when Soul and I had fallen asleep, but I woke up at 11:38am the next day, comfortable in Soul's arms, and unwilling to move. I felt agonizingly stiff and sore, especially my back which seemed to be on fire at the time. I attempted to move only slightly, to readjust my position, and the movement sent a bolt of pain right along my entire spine. This of course made me let out a loud scream, which naturally caused Soul to jump up in fright, almost having a heart attack.

"Soul, I-I can't m-move!" I gasped. Tears were back in my eyes and he was back at my side, offering his full support. Offering those hands, those gentle hands.

"Maka, what's wrong? Where does it hurt? Are you sure you can't move?" God his voice was so incredibly gentle and soothing. I loved it. Except for the worry that was perverting it all. It made me nervous. There was the question...'what's wrong?' Could she trust him with the answer? No. Well, he had just held her broken pieces together all night long. Maybe...and his hands were much kinder then..._his._

"S-Soul...My back...look at my back..." I could barely whisper. I watched as he leaned over my side to pull the back of my shirt up. I listened, waiting for his shock, his anger, and his hatred. His shock was imminent almost as soon as the fabric of my shirt moved, his loud gasp serving as proof. His anger and hatred did not, however, come as I had predicted. He merely stayed there in that spot, looking at the story my skin told.

I told you, Soul was no stupid boy. I knew he could piece together what happened. I knew it was a big blow to him as well, which was why I did not get angry or object to answering when he asked, "Maka, what happened to your back...?"

He let my shirt go and leaned back to sit up in the bed, facing me. I struggled for only a minute before I too was able to sit up. Soul watched this with wary eyes, but allowed me to do it, knowing I'd argue till he let me. When we were both sitting facing each other, I looked at him and all I said was "Closer."

He knew what that meant. Soul pulled me close, letting my head rest on his chest, before I went on to tell him the story.

* * *

_I was at his house. We were going to have a movie night. Seemed innocent, for we'd had them often enough before. In fact, we tried to watch a new movie every week just so we could tell others if one sucked or not. I was on his couch, waiting for him to come back with the movie and some snacks, maybe a few drinks, but when he finally showed up at the door, he wasn't holding a movie, nor any snacks. There was a drink in his hand though. Alcohol. I didn't know enough about drinks to tell one from another, but the smell of alcohol was strong, and my boyfriend was looking extremely drunk._

_He had told me to wait on the couch while he ran to get the movie and some snacks. I'd assumed the hour he was gone was due to trying to find a promising movie. With all the bad ones out today, I knew it could take time. So I'd made myself comfy. But it seemed that he wasn't out looking for a movie at all. It appeared he was looking only for alcohol. He was so drunk that he swayed over to the couch before dropping down on it next to me._

_At that point I was nervous. I'd never seen him drunk before, let alone this far in. He looked very angry, which put me off even more, and I began to edge away from him, which unfortunately, he'd noticed. "Maka.." He'd said my name in such a creepy way. I looked at his dull blue eyes before tilting my head a little in question."Don't leave me now Maka..." his speech was so slurred._

_I gasped in pain because suddenly, he had thrown me to the floor. As panic spread through my nervous system, my fight or flight response kicked in, and I was up and running in an instant. But I was never the athletic one, I was too slow. He quickly overtook me and knocked me to my stomach. I remember I thought it hurt when my chin hit the hardwood floor. I thought that until his boot slammed into my back. I knew it would bruise. God it hurt so much. Not just the physical pain, but the pain of being hurt by him of all people._

_We were supposed to be in love. Or so he had told me every night for the last three months. But his boot came down more then once, it hit me twice, three times, four times, five times, and finally, six times, and each stomp hurt more and more both physically and emotionally. I was crying so hard at this point, as I'm sure you could imagine._

_But it didn't end there. He lifted me up very roughly, slamming me against the wall, luckily face first, i don't think my back could have taken that pain too. The last thing I remember was my scream as i felt him punch my back with all his might._

"_I said...DONT LEAVE ME!"_

"_BLACK*STAR, NO!"_


	2. One step towards hell

**A/N:** Just a little time-line here to clarify. Maka was abused on the night of Day 1 and passed out. She awoke some time during Day 2 where she hid most of the day, leaving to go to Soul's place that night. Got it? Moving on then.

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Ch.2: One step towards hell

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It was noon. Almost 12 on the nose, and I had just finished telling Soul what had happened. I wasn't sure what he was thinking, his face was impossible to read. I guess he was most likely in shock or feeling severely angry. It became clear however, the moment he blinked. Because those concealing eyes closed, and were replaced with deep crimson spheres of pure compassion. And they were directed at me, of course.

I couldn't look away. That is, until my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. Soul glared daggers at it, most likely knowing who it was. Even I knew, but for some stupid reason I still reached over to answer it. I'd flicked it open with a quiet 'hello.' before Soul's hand could stop me.

"Maka? Hey it's the great me! But I'm sure you knew. Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come over for a movie again? We haven't seen one this week right?" I had begun to think he had no memory of last night at all. Or at least until he started talking again in a lower, menacing voice. "And please don't try to run away again okay babe?" There was an audible click as he hung up, and a small shocked gasp from me.

Soul was looking at me still, with the same intensity of caring in his eyes. "Maka, that was him wasn't it?" I nodded, letting out a deep sigh.

"He wants me to go over to his place." Soul's anger was predicted. So was his quick reply of "No way Maka!" and his grabbing my arms. As if that would stop me. I didn't want more trouble, and the only way to avoid it was to do as Black*Star had said. There was no running from the pain, the heartbreak, the abuse.

Gently, I removed his hands and struggled off the bed. Once standing it was easier to move. But first thing was first. I had to stretch my arms out and twist my back to get it to loosen up. It took ten whole minutes of me gasping and squeaking in sharp sounds of pain, and ten minutes of Soul watching with almost teary eyes, before finally my back was fully locomotive and not as sore.

Then I just stood there. I really did not want to go, and understand when I say this, that in the depths of my broken heart, all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed with Soul and sleep my pathetic life away. It took every last drop of my courage to move my feet to the door. Soul darted from the bed at that point and was at my side in an instant.

"Maka, please don't do this. You know how I feel...we're best friends. I can't let you go and stay sane."

"Soul. Let me go."

And he let me go. Just like that, he moved aside and I shuffled past him with a broken mind and broken heart. Did I want him to make me stay? Somewhere deep inside yes, but for the most part I knew letting me go was far better a choice. And so did Soul.

That was the first step towards hell.

* * *

Every step hurt, every single inch forward was like a knife in my bruised back, knowing I was taking every step just to knock on the door of the devil. You could never imagine how hard that is to do. Luckily for me, the crisp evening air allowed for me to slightly reform myself. I was able to relax and put on a brave mask before I finally arrived at his house.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Thump. Thump. Thump. The echo from the knocking on the door matched the echo of my hallow beating heart. Then both stopped immediately, as there he stood, facing me from the shadows of his death trap.

And then he smiled. Yes, the devil himself smiled, and all I could see was the guy I'd fallen in love with. I couldn't tell you how relieved I was, but I can tell you that I smiled with him and he led me to the couch. This time I could see the DVD sitting on the coffee table and the big bowl of popcorn.

God I was so foolish to remain so damn confident.

We both sat next to each other, perhaps a little further away then normally we would. I thought he honestly felt bad for what he did last night. He got up for a minute to pop in the DVD and to bring the popcorn to the couch, then plopped down directly next to me. I won't lie, it made me really nervous despite my confidence.

But he was warm, and he was happy. This was who I'd fallen for. Or I thought that, until he put a hand on my leg, just above my knee. His hand. His hand was cold, hard, and cruel. I remembered how gentle and warm Soul's hands wad been last night. They had held me together. These were the ones that had broken me.

That thought had just embed into my brain. I did my best though to push it to the back of my being, then I could focus on having a good night. And as it was, the night progressed fairly well. I was really into the movie, it was some action movie we'd never even heard of before. Looks like another thumbs-up. I ended up absently leaning on Black*Star's shoulder.

I guess he took that the wrong way though. His hand slid a little further up my leg. This made me sort of uncomfortable, but I ignored it and watched the last 20 minutes of the movie. The ending sucked. I was turning to voice my thoughts, as we always did during the credits, when his cold hand snaked it's way even further up my leg.

This both scared me and increased my discomfort. As a reaction to these negative feelings, I pulled away from him. A bad idea, but it was too late.

"Maka...I thought I made it clear not to leave me..." Fuck. His voice was so menacing. I began to shiver slightly in fear.

"I-I wasn't going anywhere..." How I expected him to believe me, I don't know.

"Don t lie to me Maka. Don't you FUCKING lie to ME!" And that was it. In a motion so swift, I couldn't even see it, his hand balled up and slammed into my stomach. The force of the punch was actually enough to send me flipping backwards over the arm of the couch.

I'd seen on cartoons and animated movies how people would be punched and sent flying unreal distances. I always thought that was a stupid concept until now. I remember slamming into the wall, a loud whimper escaping my mouth. The clock's ticking was suddenly all I could hear other then the loud thumping in my chest. It was 3:29pm.

Should I stay? If I moved, Black*Star would hurt me again. But on the other hand, I could make a run for it and hide at Soul's again. It was around then that I figured I'd be spending a lot of night's at his place from then on. I decided not to move, the risk was too great. But that was a mistake too. Everything was just one big stupid mistake.

When my back slammed into the wall it began to hurt again. I couldn't help but hunch over anyways, because my stomach was hurting like crazy. I felt sick, like I was going to throw up. And I did, though it wasn't much since all I'd eaten since the last time this happened was popcorn.

I knew how I must have looked, whimpering and vomiting and clutching my stomach. I guess that explains why he decided to come over and Kick my stomach to add on to my agony. Making a mess in his house was prohibited. I had to quickly wipe the blood from my mouth before I made more of a mess. Shakily, I stood up. I was waiting now.

3:32pm. Black*Star turned around for a moment and that was it. Adrenaline pumped it's way into every single inch of my body and I bolted through the door and back to heaven as fast as I had ever ran. Lucky for me that Black*Star seemed to have given up trying to catch me when I made my way around the corner. I never once slowed down, running all the way to that white door at the top of those four concrete stairs.

The building Soul lived in was made of dark red bricks, and had four separate apartments, the third from the left being his. The steps to the doors started at the sidewalk so there was no front lawn, but there were tree's on both sides of the building, and land in the back separated into four plots, one for each apartment.

From then on, heaven was always going to be that brick building. I would forever adore that deep shade of red, a little darker then Soul's eyes, but still so very bright to me.

I opened the door without knocking, and walked past the little entry hallway, past the bathroom on the left and Soul's room on the right, straight to the spare room. The second door on the left. This was going to be 'my' room, I knew it.

There he was, sitting on the bed where I'd left him. I didn't even hesitate, I crawled on to the bed and straight into his open arms. It was probably obvious that I'd be back.

I started to break again as soon as I was back in his arms. I felt the tremors in my body build into a human earthquake, my sobs started as whimpers and evolved into full on screams, just like last time. Waterfalls stung my eyes, and I was so nauseous that it took all my remaining physical strength to not vomit on my best, and only friend.

It was a few hours before I was calmed down enough to notice he was crying too. I could feel his hot tears fall onto the top of my head. I didn't want Soul to cry, it hurt. But I supposed that was why he was crying in the first place, because I was.

God it was all my fault. This whole day was. I should have stayed still at Black*Stars house. No, scratch that, I should have stayed here with Soul. Then we'd both be okay. But no, I had to be stupid and go back to the devil. I just had to be...Maka.

As an attempt to stop him from crying, I pressed as close to him as I could and rested my head against his chest, arm's weakly wrapped around his waist. His arm's tightened around my stomach in return, and that was when it happened. Pain from both my back and front bombarded me, and I couldn't hold it. I let out a terrible shriek. This in turn caused Soul to jump away from me, sparkling drops of water flying from his widening eyes.

"Oh god Maka I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Every word was saturated with love and worry. It made me even more nauseous.

"S-S-Soul...my stomach...he p-punched my st-stomach..." I explained between groans of agony. I screwed my eyes shut and took in a few deep breaths to calm myself. Thankfully it worked and the pain subsided fairly quick.

"Maka..." A shiver of some strong emotion went straight down my spine. Soul's whisper into my ear had made me suddenly feel very tingly. Since when had he been behind me? My eyes shot open to see nothing. So he was behind me, but before I could turn around, Soul placed his hands onto my Shoulders. For a moment, I was confused, but then he began to slowly massage them, and the pain in my back eased off more and more.

"Soul..." I could only manage to whisper out his name. I suddenly realized how much I liked to say it. It was, after all, a very nice name. I think he liked to hear me say his name too, because I felt him shiver gently. It wasn't like it turned him on or anything, Soul wasn't like that, but I could tell it made him feel the way he was making me feel at that moment.

When he finally stopped massaging my shoulders very gently, he got up off the bed. I looked at him, confusion etched into my facial features, before he turned around and spoke up.

"Maka, it's almost 7 and you haven't eaten since you got here, plus you look pale and I know you've been throwing up. Stay right there, I'm going to bring you some food and I want you to please eat it all." And he left. And I sat there. Well, I sat there until something registered in my mind.

"Oh, papa! He must be worried about me.." I quickly whipped out my phone and hit the speed dial. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Hello? Maka! Where are you? My god I've been so worried! You're lucky I haven't called the cops yet!" His voice was rushed in panic and worry.

"Sorry, sorry papa! Calm down! I'm at Soul's house." Speak of the devil. No, speak of the angel. Soul walked in at this point carrying a plate with fruit and toast, my favourite of strawberries dominating the rest. He really was the best friend ever, I'll say that a thousand times a day because it's true.

His eyes were worried. I shook my head to clarify that it was not my boyfriend, and he visibly relaxed.

"Maka? Did you hear me?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, how long are you going to be there? I miss you at home you know, my precious daughter."

"I'm going to be here for a few more days. I need a break okay papa? You understand right?" I knew he couldn't resist my 'Daddy's little angel' voice.

"Yeah Maka, I understand. Take care okay? And call me every now and then! I really worry about you! Okay, love you, bye for now."

"Yeah, love you too papa, see you later." And I hung up. Soul had sat beside me again and put the plate on my lap. He now held out a fork with a piece of watermelon speared on the end.

"I can still eat on my own you know Soul.." I muttered, blushing.

"Yeah, but you won't eat unless I make you." He knew me too god damn well. I reluctantly ate the watermelon and suddenly, my lack of food the last few days hit me, and my hunger slammed into my stomach. Soul seemed to realize this because he laughed and handed me the plate, which I then commenced clearing in record time.

His laugh made me feel good too. It was deep and seductive even if just a chuckle. When I finished, he took the plate to the kitchen and came back with some hot chocolate. Here, thought you'd want some too. He sat back down with his own cup.

It wasn't long before we were huddled close enough to be touching at our sides, sipping hot chocolate under the blanket that was still there from last night. I could feel my heart being taped back together with every swallow of the warm liquid too. A very welcome action.

It was almost 9pm when we put the cups on the table and huddled up together to sleep, me facing the wall and Soul pressed against my back with his arms around my waist, hand resting on my stomach. It was a comfortable position, and it wasn't long before Soul fell asleep, his warm breath on my neck.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable. Something was wrong. Not like 'I'm going to die' wrong, just out of place. I turned over, burrowing my head under his chin and against his neck, and the feeling went away. Soul was still asleep, hands now on my back, and his breath now warming my forehead. Yes, that felt much more right. The last conscious memory I have of that day was when I heard a very gentle Goodnight Maka, I love you.

I thought I'd imagined it though.

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Thanks to **Anaisishere****, Ambrie-chan, Sailor sofia, Misa325, RandomDancing123, RebelAngel91210, Mynameiseliza, Sazyboo and KittyAttack **for all the reviews, favorites and alert add's. ** 3**


	3. Free Day

ch.3: Free Day

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For the second time in my life, I woke up next to my best friend. He was also holding me close again, though this morning he seemed to be holding me just a little closer. I felt so welcomed here. So loved. The way that until a few days ago, Black*Star had made me feel. I was glad I could find that feeling somewhere, especially though such a terrible ordeal.

This time however, I learned from my mistakes. I did not move a single inch. And I found that this morning I did not want to, for I was perfectly content with my position. Soul, for some reason, had one hand under my head like a pillow, the other was on my back, the arm laying lazily on my left side and his forehead was pressed to mine.

The window behind me was leaking bright sunlight. For some reason, I'd been to distracted to notice small things yesterday morning. This morning however, the most insignificant dust bunnies in the room seemed beautiful. Until my stomach twisted in pain.

Why did it have to do that, seriously? I hadn't even moved. I didn't scream like yesterday morning, but I did groan in pain. That was, it appeared, enough to wake Soul, who must have been in watch-dog mode. He immediately shot up, taking his arms away from me, and his concerned red eyes fell on me again.

"S'ok Soul, it's just my stomach. It hurts pretty bad. And my back feels stiff and sore again." I paused for a moment before, "Scratch that, It's not okay. Guess you're going to have to do me in Soul." He smiled, sensing my good mood and knowing I was joking. "Seriously though, can you help me off the bed and get me an aspirin?" I requested.

And he complied, gently taking my hands in his, and lifting me to my feet slowly. The sickening nausea that had been lurking for a while now was swirling around dangerously inside of me and a swayed slightly, Soul at my side instantly to steady me.

"You going to be able to stand on your own now?" I nodded quickly. "Okay, stay here and try to stretch out your back like you did yesterday, I'll run down the hall to get you an aspirin and some Ginger ale okay?" That was Soul for you, always giving you the best so you'd be the best. I loved that about him so much, but I believe I've already told you that.

I noticed him take something from the little stand by the bed before walking off, but I ignored the minor movement and started stretching myself out. Or rather, I began moving one centimetre at a time. It took about ten minutes again before I could fully move side to side, by which time Soul had returned with the Ginger Ale and the Aspirin.

I gladly walked over to accept both, and gulped down the pill in a heartbeat, the Ginger Ale instantly helping to sooth the tsunami-like state my stomach was in. "Mm, thanks so much Soul!" I muttered, finishing the drink and handing him the empty glass.

"Maka..."Soul was hesitating. But I could guess what he wanted. He wanted to see the state of my stomach. Actually, so did I, because I'd not gotten a proper look at it, and I was sure it'd be worse then it was the night before.

"Yes, hold on a second..." And I lifted up my shirt enough to show my stomach. Dark bruises were covering the area around my belly button and a short shallow cut decorated the skin on one spot. I mildly wondered how that had gotten there, but then I remembered that I'd tripped once on the way here. Least I didn't have more cuts, in fact, I was rather lucky.

I felt like throwing up from the sight, but the Aspirin was beginning to work miracles on my nausea. Soul however, had to leave. I dropped my shirt as he exited the room at full speed and looked back up. I suddenly realized, this is the same outfit I'd been wearing since the first time I'd been beaten. I also hadn't showered since, and I felt rather dirty suddenly.

When Soul came back a minute later, rubbing his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, I looked to him. "Soul, can you do me a huge favour?" He nodded, probably still too shocked from my stomach to speak. "I need you to go grab some clothes for me from home while I shower, okay?"

"Sure thing Maka! I'll leave them by the door of the bathroom, so just grab them when you finish okay?" With that, and a small nod from me, he left. I walked down the hall, past the kitchen and small family room, to the bathroom door, and went inside. The door clicked quietly and I walked over to the shower.

It felt nice to remove the clothes I'd been wearing for a few days now, and to have fresh water and soap wash the sins from my body. Almost like I was a clean person. The water was so warm, it made me feel good. I heard a door shut at some point of my shower, looked like Soul was home finally.

I was surprised to find that there was still some of my shampoo left here. I had brought a bottle here one time and forgotten it, deciding I'd leave it for my frequent stays. But my stays were so frequent I'd have expected it to have run out by then. I was pleasantly surprised.

I washed my hair with the strawberry scented shampoo and rinsed it out, then stepped from the shower. My brush was still here too. I briefly wondered just how often I was here. '...A lot' I concluded after finding my spare toothbrush. Then again, I had spent a whole week here once when I just couldn't stand being home.

I brushed my hair until it looked smooth and soft, then brushed my teeth so I felt one hundred percent clean. Then I wrapped a towel around myself before opening the door a crack. There were my clothes. Soul was so reliable. I dragged them into the bathroom and slipped them on, opening the door all the way once I was all dressed. I found Soul in the living room.

"Hey Maka! You feeling better now that you're all clean?" I nodded. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a shower too." He got up and left the room, peeking back for a second to tell me the

remote was on the coffee table and that I should really make myself at home.

And I did. This was my second home anyways, so I was used to it. I actually was hungry so I went to the kitchen, made some toast, spread peanut butter on the slices quickly, then went back to the family room to sit on the couch and flick on the T.V. I turned on some cartoons, because I was in the mood for a laugh, and ate my toast while waiting for Soul to come back.

I glanced at the clock when I finished eating. It was 1:46pm and I hadn't gotten a call from Black*Star yet. That was good, I could rest up and recover here before the next wave of abuse. I went and put my plate in the dishwasher, and as I was walking back into the living room, I noticed Soul was on the couch, hair all wet, and wearing a new change of clothes.

He looked over as I plopped down on the opposite side of the couch from him and smiled. I felt really good now, today was turning out great. Soul's eyebrow raised and he smiled too. I loved his smile, it was crooked and showed off his odd sharp teeth.

"Someone's happy today. I'm glad to see you smiling again, I've missed that smile a lot over the past few days you know." I smiled even more and looked at him. As our eyes met, I felt a jolt go right through my heart. Not a bad one, don't get me wrong. The feeling was ecstatic. It was like my poor broken and abused heart was filling up with hot chocolate.

"Soul..." He leaned forward, I could see a blush on his face. "Can you make us some hot chocolate? Damn I could go for some of that right now!" I hid a laugh as his eye twitched and he jerked backwards quickly.

"Yeah! Sure! Two hot chocolate coming right up!" And he sprung from the couch I couldn't hold it in any longer. I began laughing. I'm sure he was smiling as he walked to the kitchen. It felt good to be laughing. Amazing how much you can miss it when you haven't for a couple days.

As I waited, I began to hum to myself while watching the cartoon on T.V. I didn't know the name but it suddenly seemed a whole lot funnier. Or maybe I was just addicted to laughing. I liked that theory, so I went with it. I began to giggle at the smallest thing, reminding myself of The Mad Hatter, and tried to stop, but hell, I was an addict after all. And I never wanted to go to rehab, because this was so much better then the sobbing I'd been doing a lot lately too.

Soul came in with a questioning stare directed my way, and I continued to giggle while he handed me my mug. I noticed his smile again. It was still there, if not bigger. He began to chuckle lightly. "What's so funny Maka? It's just a cartoon, they aren't that amusing!" He laughed out, but I got the feeling that he wanted me to carry on.

I did stop however. I blamed it on him. I was able to drink my hot chocolate then though, so I lifted the mug up to my lips and drank a small bit. I'd like to state that they don't call it hot chocolate for nothing. I could feel my lip heat up way too quickly, and I swallowed the hot liquid quickly, hurting my raw throat a little, and I gasped.

Soul looked at me, amused. "You know Maka, it is called HOT chocolate, not lukewarm or cold chocolate. I wonder if they'd taste the same or better even?" He trailed off, lost in thought. That was a typical Soul, talk about something and then get lost in conversation. I lightly laughed at him, and he looked at me, giving me that feeling once more as our eye locked for the second time.

I took another sip, this time it didn't burn, and swallowed, breaking the eye-contact. We stayed there for a while just sipping our hot chocolate and enjoying the company of each other, and I felt like nothing had ever happened, like I was here just for a normal visit. I felt loved again.

* * *

The sun was going down by the time I was bothered to check the time again. It was a little past 8, not too late but far too early to go to sleep. So I started thinking of things we could do for the next couple hours. I'm sure had I asked Soul, he would have had a few suggestions, but none that I would have been interested in at the time.

But I did get an idea of my own. "Soul, let's watch a movie!" it was a reflex idea of mine. I always asked Black*Star if he wanted to, and we always did, but now I wanted to watch one with someone I could trust at the moment. I'd watch them with Black*Star when he calmed down again.

Soul looked at me and nodded. "What movie? I don't own any so it'll have to be pay-per-view. I'll have to rent one that comes on next, so we have a few minutes to pick on and rent it." I nodded and picked up the remote, going to the pay-per-view channels. I soon quit looking though, because something rang in my head. I threw the remote at Soul and picked up the phone next to me. He looked at me. "Maka who're you calling?" Such a watch-dog indeed.

"I'm calling Papa, I said I'd call him every now and then to let him know I'm fine. I think I owe him that, he did let me stay here as long as I want to." Soul grinned and nodded, taking the remote into his hand and flicking through the channels. I dialled Papa's number. Ring. Ring. Ring. Click. "Hello?"

"Papa, hi it's me, Maka." I said into the receiver.

"Oh Maka baby, how are you? I was thinking about you all day!" I smiled very lightly.

"I'm fine papa." Soul nudged me and pointed to the T.V, the screen showing the movie he wanted to order. I gave him the thumbs up, and went back to my conversation. "Listen, me and Soul are going to watch a movie now so I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay baby, have fun! And remember, if Soul makes a move on you, use those defensive tactics I taught you."

"Don't worry papa, Soul knows I have a boy...friend." The hesitation was missed by my papa, but Soul the watch-dog sure noticed. He hit 'order' and put the remote down, then as soon as I hung up, he held his arms out.

I sighed, he knew me way too well. Yes, it had hurt to call Black*Star my boyfriend. Not that it mattered once I was in Soul's arm's. He held me close, and placed his head on top of mine and I felt comfortable. I didn't even move when the lights went out and the T.V went black, indicating the start of the movie. How did the lights go out? Soul had those awesome clapper lights.

The entire movie started and I don't know why but we both moved so that he was laying down behind me, with an arm over my side and the other holding his head up. I had my arm's cross underneath my chin. It was nice, but as the movie progressed my eyes began to droop.

I somehow managed to stay awake through the whole thing, but as the credits rolled and Soul climbed over me, I was far too tired to get up to walk to the spare room. Soul, sensing this and seeing my eyes, lifted me up bridal style and carried me to bed. We fell asleep together again, and I swore I heard him say he loved me once more, but I really was tired, so I pushed it off as my imagination for the second night in a row.

* * *

Thanks to **Sailor Sofia, KittyAttack, Wanderwithme4now, Runner-Chaser, Ambrie-Chan, RebelAngel90210, Rin-Writers, RandomDancing123 and lili012** for the reviews, favorites and alert adds!

Dear **RandomDancing123: **Your review made me smile the most!**  
**


	4. Dreams and Nightmares

**A/N:** Not going to make excuses for why this took so long. I was lazy. I've actually had most of this done for a while now. By the way, this fiction's almost over. One chapter left actually! May do an alternate ending if I feel like it. I'm not gunna do the whole "review lots and I'll do it" thing, if I want to I will, simple as that. Also, I'm going on a huge vacation in a few days so don't expect the final chapter until sometime in September! On to the chapter then...

* * *

Ch.4: Dreams and Nightmares

* * *

It was very late, or early depending on how you look at it, still dark outside. The stars sparkled brightly at us, illuminating our faces as we smiled gently. It was completely silent in the room until the slightly ajar window let out a whistle as wind rushed in. The cold air sent a shiver along my body and Soul pulled me closer to warm me up. Neither of us wanted to bother getting up to close the window so we just cuddled closer to keep warm.

When one of us finally moved, it was Soul. I stayed still however, mostly due to shock as I realized he was now crouched over me, his face getting closer, eyes half closed and still radiating passion. I shivered again because of a new, much nicer sensation that was taking over my entire body. My eyes began to close as well, a natural reaction I assumed as I didn't tell them to. The last thing I saw was his mouth less then an inch from mine.

Then I woke up, rather confused and red in the face might I add. Soul wasn't there either and I don't know why that made me feel as bad as it did. I pushed off the little wave of disappointment and sat up in the bed to take in my surroundings.

It was now the third morning since the last time Black*Star had hurt me. My back was feeling much better and my bruises were starting to fade, all traces of the abuse was disappearing. The only persistent problem now was that my stomach was aching a lot in the nights and I had to take Advil often to ward off the pain. But despite all that, I missed him.

I missed my boyfriend. The hyperactive, immature guy who always acted like he was top dog. Well, I recalled, not always. The night he had asked me out was the first time I had ever seen him stutter and be shy. He'd walked up to me in all his confidence, playing god, and stopped right in front of me before he deflated like a cheap balloon. I laughed quietly as I recalled the happy memory. I also wondered why he hadn't called lately. I was certain he had not moved on and would want to hang out with me every day, as we always had.

Maybe he wanted to give me time to recover before he broke me again. Naturally, if he asked, I'd return to him because well...I'm Maka. That's what I do, I'm too damn faithful, I can't say no. Why? Because I wanted to go back and find my boyfriend and not the Devil in a handsome mask.

I decided then that I was doing too much thinking and jumped out of bed. My clothes were in a bag by the bed and I opened it up to haul some out. I put on some pants and a black and red striped sleeveless hoodie. I opened up the door only to jump back with a squeak of surprise as a grinning Soul stood there right in front of my face.

My dream came back to me and I knew I blushed so I look down quickly. "Oh! S-Soul, hi I didn't know you were there. So u-um, yeah..." I felt so embarrassed at the way I stuttered. I was perfectly aware Soul was in love with me, He'd told me before, and he didn't stutter when he talked to me. Then I realized there were a few things wrong with what I was thinking.

For one thing, Soul most likely wasn't still in love with me, he'd told me he was but that was over two years ago. Maybe he still had a bit of a crush on me or something, but surely he'd moved on by now.

And another thing, why the hell was I wondering if Soul still loved me? That had nothing to do with why I was stuttering because I did not love Soul. I loved my boyfriend...Right? Right, I loved Black*Star and nobody else, that was that.

"Hey Maka, are you listening to me?" I blinked and came back to the real world where Soul had backed off a little and, apparently, was talking to me. When he realized I was now paying attention, he repeated himself. "I asked if you wanted to go out today and do something. I'll keep you safe if we run into your boyfriend so no worries!" He was grinning at me with that stupid shark-puppy stare of his.

"Ugh." I caved. "Yeah, yeah, sure whatever!" He smiled normally at me and turned around quickly, grabbing my wrist in the process and dragging me to the front door. He opened it up for me and waited for me to go out before following me, closing the door, re-grabbing my wrist and proceeding to drag me along the sidewalk.

I had no idea where we were going and I guessed Soul didn't either, so we just walked aimlessly until we got to a little ice cream shop and went inside. There was a girl maybe a few years older then us at the register who smiled as we entered and pointed to the list of flavours and styles they sold. I asked for a scoop of strawberry flavour and Soul got two scoops of mint. She handed us the frozen treats and we payed for them and left.

Somehow we both knew where we were going without deciding to go there at all. We ended up at the park all the same, sitting on a swing each and finishing off our ice cream. I didn't know the time and I really didn't care, but the sun was starting to go down. I must have slept a lot because of that dream. That did not encourage us to leave though since we'd just got there.

We sat on those swings for the longest time until Soul suddenly jumped up and looked back at me. "Hey Maka, come with me okay?" I tilted my head but followed him as he led me to the edge of the park. The one we were in happened to be situated at the edge of the city. It was a clear stretch of land with classical playground equipment, benches and it led down to the beach. The entire park was surrounded by tree's except where it went downhill to the water.

And so it was that I found myself next to Soul on a cold beach as the sun was lowering deep into the sky. I was a little tired of standing there so I sort of flopped down onto my butt and looked up at my best friend. "Soul, what are we..." His face was so attractive. "What are we doing here again?"

He smirked, sat down next to me, very closely may I add, before replying. "Well, if you advert your eyes from me for a minute or two and look straight ahead, you'll probably see the answer to that question." Confused, I turned my head and looked forward only to have my eyes widen in surprise.

It was magnificent really, and I don't know why. I'd seen so many sunsets before with Black*Star and my middle-school friend Tsubaki before she'd moved away, but this was the best by a long-shot. The colours swam in the sky and the entire world lit up orange, red and yellow. It was just astounding, it took my breath away.

I wondered if it was because I was watching it with the most...second most amazing guy ever. How would I have felt if I was watching this with Black*Star? I began wondering again, why He hadn't called for me in the last couple days when something struck me. I couldn't remember having my cellphone on me for a while.

"Soul, have you seen my cellphone?" I asked him, reaching into my pockets in case I'd forgotten I had it all along. But I got suspicious when Soul's eyes suddenly widened a little and he sat more rigidly. "Soul...do you have my phone...?" Panic was swirling around my ankles, threatening to pull me under.

He turned slowly to look at me, a desperate expression on his face. "Maka, I only took it for your safety, you have to understand okay? I didn't want him calling you every day because...I knew you'd go back and...I wanted to protect you." Oh god, I remembered when he had swiped something from my table a few days ago. That was the last time I'd seen my boyfriend. Soul had taken my phone. To protect me.

But he only made everything worse.

"So that's where you've been huh Maka?" A cold voice hissed out. "With some other guy? And he took your phone huh? Guess your punishment will be a little less severe since me being without you for three fucking days wasn't all your fault. Still, you were stupid enough to not think of calling me from another phone. I think that definitely needs a punishment."

He was there, taking about hurting me again. I got up to go with him and accept my punishment when something wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back.

Soul was trying to protect me, I knew that somewhere in my messed up mind, but I wasn't able to register it through my fear. So I did something stupid and I tugged my hand away. I know now that Soul thought I was rejecting his protection, but I didn't then. I guess that's why he gave up instantly and let my boyfriend drag me violently away.

* * *

I don't really have much memory after that. I only know that Black*Star dragged me into an alleyway, there was a flash of blue and then everything went black. It doesn't need to be said but yes, he'd knocked me out.

When I came to, I was on a bed and the lights were off, windows closed and covered, and someone was standing, or leaning rather, against the door. I knew who it was even without light. And because it was him, I didn't make a sound. I instead cowered against the headboard.

He walked towards me slowly and menacingly, causing me to begin shivering. In much too little time he was beside the bed, crawling onto it, and over to me. I thought he was going to hit me when he stood on his knees bending over me, so I did what my body did automatically. I cringed.

It did not however, help with what was about to happen. The man before me did not raise his hand to hurt me like I'd assumed. He instead snaked it under my shirt and to a very personal area. A squeak of shock and discomfort escaped from me the instant he grabbed my chest and moved his other hand to start sliding my shirt up.

The next two hours consisted of my constant crying and denying that what he was doing to me was 'not fucking happening.'

I'm sure you can guess what it was.

I was hopeless too, which was the worst part of it all. When it was all over I did not cease in my crying, instead it increased by about two octaves and Black*Star didn't like that. He hit me, hard. And it wasn't an area I could hide easily, it was right on my face, and a black eye was sure to appear. After a couple more brutal punches, to which I'd grown immune from the shock I was in, I stopped making any form of noise as a reaction. Inside, I felt used and filthy and completely worthless.

And I was. I was a poor excuse for a human being at the moment, because I suddenly realized I should have never came here, I should never have left Soul.

Soul. An image of him appeared in my head behind closed eyes. I was glad Black*Star had left because seeing his face so close yet so far away made me cry again. I could hear his voice as if he were really here to comfort me. But he wasn't and I knew that.

Nobody was going to help me here.

The only person here had just stolen my purity. Or rather, he finished stealing it. It started with that first kick to my back.

Tears were still forming waterfalls on my cheeks and sobs still erupted through my body when I heard a quiet knock at the door. Not the door to this room, the front door. I heard Black*Star answer and a shout, along with muffled speaking.

I couldn't tell at first what anyone was saying until Black*Star started yelling.

"She isn't FUCKING here okay so get the HELL out of my house!" The next voice caused me to stop crying, sobbing and shaking immediately.

"I know she is so don't you lie to me, give her back to me right now or I swear to god I will call the GOD DAMN COPS."

Guess who was back, trying to save me again.

There were sounds of a fight outside the door and then someone yelling.

"MAKA IM NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU!" Soul's shout was echoed with a sound that stopped all blood from moving in my body.

A gunshot.

* * *

Thanks to **Kittyattack, ambrie-chan, liahkonaAS, sailor sofia, mynamebecait09, RebelAngel91210, midnight-heart, Kedern, Jess Rap, AnimePrincess411, Domo1383, fangirl from lunaescence, ShibuMeisXWeapFan, stateofbeing and dead2xdeidara23 **for all the reviews, favorites and alert add's.

**Dear sailor sofia:** That made me smile! I've had my own bouts of uncontrollable laughter too.

18 reviews? You guy's are crazy!


	5. Conflict Resolved

**A/N: **I can never apologize enough my dear readers, for leaving you that long with a terrible cliffhanger. I was without my laptop for an entire month after I got home from vacation because it broke. Since then, I was trying my hardest to make the ending work just right. If you do not like it, then I am so so sorry. I did try my best. On to the ending then.

* * *

Ch.5: Conflict resolved

* * *

_Years ago, I had a lot more friends. It was me, Black*Star, Kidd, and Tsubaki most of the time. Aside from them I sometimes would hang out with Kidd and his two friends Liz and Patty, or Soul. As time progressed, Liz and Patty had to move away. Kidd went through a hard time and we ended up hanging out more often and getting much closer. _

_ One day while we were at my house, we were alone in the living room, and he was telling me about how Black*Star was planning to ask out Tsubaki. We both knew he had a massive crush on her. It was cute how he was too shy to ask. But poor black*Star never got the chance. The next day, he was home sick and that was the day Tsubaki came and changed all our lives. _

_ "Moving?" I stared blankly at one of the best friends I knew I'd ever have. She was moving! And no small distance either. She was going far away, too far to visit each other. Her dad had gotten a promotion and was required to move to Europe. "When are you going?" I asked._

_ "Tomorrow. I wont be here. This is where I say g-...goodbye." She had tears in her beautiful eyes and was whispering by the time she said it. But she held together long enough to hug me and Kidd each before turning away sobbing and tossing farewells over her shuddering shoulders. _

_ There it was. That was the point where the entire world was shoved out of alignment. The next day, Tsubaki was not there as she had said she wouldn't be. But Black*Star was, and the first thing he did was question the whereabouts of his crush. We both, Kidd and I, looked away awkwardly before Kidd told him she was gone._

_ He tried not to show it, but Black*Star was killed inside by her leaving. He stopped showing up to school for quite some time, and me and Kidd were shoved from his life. When he finally came back to us, Kidd had moved away as well. We made it a silent pact not to speak of either Tsubaki or Kidd in his presence, and slowly, he went back to his old playful self. _

_ We were in middle-school at that time. Grade 8, and we were all 13, excluding Black*Star and Kidd who were 14. It was in grade 10 when Black*Star asked me out. I was 15 and he was 16. Right now we are both in grade 11. We have been together for almost a year. 11 months to be exact._

_ I suppose you want to know how Soul fits into all of this as well huh? Well when Black*Star was gone, I had nobody to spend my time with other then Soul. I spent the majority of those lonely months in his company and we bonded even faster then Kidd and I had. We became the best of friends._

_ So there I am. In grade 11, with my boyfriend of 11 months, and my best friend Soul._

_

* * *

_

You cannot fathom how confused, hurt and miserable I was at that moment. All I knew was that Soul may be dead, my boyfriend may come back at any second and hurt me more, and there was absolutely no _fucking_ hope for the disgusting little child sitting in that dark room, wrapped in nothing more then an old blanket.

A quick glance around the room told me there was nothing around I could use as a weapon to help Soul, and I knew there was no way in hell I could raise me fist against Black*Star. That ruled out me being of any use. So I was stuck in that room.

But no way in hell could I sit around doing nothing when my best friend could be dying on the other side of that door. No way. So I stood up slowly, and made my way on wobbly legs over to grab the cold doorknob. But as I lay my hand down, I heard a voice suddenly speak up. I couldn't tell what he was saying, but by the savagery in his voice, I knew it was my boyfriend.

Then, the thing that made my blood begin to pump again, the thing that pounded hope back into my broken heart, was the quiet voice that came in reply. Soul's voice.

Then suddenly, although I hadn't been aware of it slowing down so much, time began to speed considerably. There was a yell and feet crashing on the floor, I guess one was chasing the other. Probably Soul being chased by Black*Star. A number of smashes. Quite a few things were being broken. Each loud CLASH made me jump.

Suddenly there was a door being slammed, open or shut, I don't know, but it made my soul flutter in fear and hope. I could only hope it was open, and that help had arrived for Soul and I. But no new voices arose. Only Black*Star's, and it sounded pissed. He was loud enough this time that I could hear each word.

"Get back here you little shit! Don't go running' and hiding' like that or I'll fucking kill your little friend in there!" Kill me. He was threatening to kill me. But if Soul was hiding then he must be hurt. That thought kind of overrode all my fear of being murdered by my boyfriend.

I swiftly twisted the doorknob I still held in my hand, swept out of the room and lashed out at Black*Star with my fist. I missed, but what I yelled at his face next froze him momentarily.

"WE'RE THROUGH YOU JACKASS!" and with that screech, my fist made contact with the side of his face. He was thrown back a couple of feet and his eyes were wider then the Cheshire cat's, but in a second he had recomposed himself and retaliated with a yell of "HELL IF WE ARE!" and his very own fist connected with my forehead.

I stood my ground, breathing sharply, pain throbbing in my head and the world around me blurry and spinning too fast. There was a distinct _click_ and a door to my left was opened, the white haired, red eyed face of god peeking from inside a dark room.

"Maka! Quick, get in here!" Soul commended, and I staggered over as fast as I could. As I made my way there, Soul ran past me and started to attack Black*Star again. That was no good. I stopped, and Soul noticed not long after.

"Go! Quick!" He said as he dodged a kick from my now ex-boyfriend. "I'll be right behind you I swear!" And he landed his fist against Black*Star's stomach. The boy doubled over in pain and Soul nimbly ran over and shoved me in the dark room, sliding in behind me.

It was a closet. A larger then average closet full of blankets and pillows, and dangling from the ceiling was a cord that was attached to a light bulb. Soul pulled on the cord and grabbed a thick blanket, which he wrapped around us both and grabbed me in the tightest hug I've ever had.

"Maka, oh my god I was so afraid he'd killed you. He was so pissed when he took you, and while you were gone I was going INSANE thinking what he might be doing and I'm sorry but I can't take it, you being with him any more. I heard you break up with him. I'm so proud of you..."

I began to cry harder then ever right then. I couldn't believe I was back in Soul's arms after all that torture. My ears refused to pick up the sounds of Black*Star pounding on the door to get in. I wasn't afraid anymore, I was here, Soul was here, he was breathing, we were both okay.

Soul pulled out his phone and called the police to come and get us, and to arrest Black*Star. It took a bit longer then needed since I had to try and remember the exact address for Black*Star's house. It's hard remembering things when you were just beaten, raped, threatened, and chased into a closet.

But eventually, there we sat, in safety, with the police on their way. It was scary that I could hear Black*Star continually banging on the other side of the closet door, and exponentially more so when the bangs started to sound like cracks.

Soul shifted us both to the very back of the closet, not that we ended up much further away from the door, and he pulled me even closer to him for comfort. To be honest, we were both afraid of Black*Star breaking the door down before the cops could arrive, but as we heard a very loud bang, and closed our eyes in fright, it was merely a second later that we realized it was not the closet door that had broken.

Help had finally arrived! There was a lot of commotion outside as we heard people shouting and running around. I knew what was happening, they were putting Black*Star in handcuffs to take him away. The noise died down and a tall male cop opened the door to the closet.

"Guys, I found 'em, they're in here!" The man gestured over some other policemen and within a few minutes they had helped us up and out of the cramped closet. The tall one turned to me and led me away from the others. "Are you okay?" He asked me. I could only nod.

He nodded as well before moving on. "So I was told that you were close to that boy huh?" I nodded again while whispering what we once were. "I see. Would you like to see him one last time to say goodbye before we take him away?"

This was it. I could make the choice to break from him easily, or to go and make it all harder on myself. After making the wrong choice too many times, I shook my head from side to side, and the man smiled sympathetically. "Good choice little girl."

"Maka. The name is Maka..."

"Well then, Maka. You're awfully luck you know. For most people, this goes on so much longer then it did for you. It's a good thing your friend intervened when he did." I stood there, taking all this in. And he was right, Soul had saved my life. I knew that much. Black*Star, had he be given the opportunity, would probably have kept hurting me until it was just a bit too much for me to take.

I looked over at my saviour and as I did, he turned as well, and our eyes locked. It was like I'd been hit by lightning, as cliche as that sounds. I unconsciously walked towards him and he met with me halfway, enveloping me in another massive hug.

"Maka. I have to tell you something important..." I looked weakly at him, but before he could continue, everything had gone black.

* * *

"Maka... please wake up..." My eyes shot open. I was confused as to where I was at first, but it quickly dawned upon me that I was at Soul's place. Another thing I noticed, and was grateful for, was that I now had clothes on. I didn't care how they got on me, just that I was covered. The familiar room calmed me almost as soon as I began to panic. I sat up slowly and noticed Soul was sitting on the end of the bed I was laying on, his head rested on the knees he was hugging with a death grip.

"Soul..what... What the heck happened? The last thing I remember is the police showing up and..." I didn't need to really go back over everything. He smiled very lightly and lifted his head up to look at me better.

"You feinted. Just after the cops asked us some questions you looked over and I hugged you but you passed out right there in my arms. The police let me bring you back here but we have to go to the station later to explain everything that happened." It was an easy explanation. I was glad Soul had brought me here rather then to my fathers place. The last thing I needed was to wake up to an overly doting father halfway through a panic attack at the state of his 'precious daughter'.

I began to mull over where I was in life right now. I was safe, at my best (and now only) friends house, and single. The realization of it all made me sad, but it slowly gravitated towards happiness as I realized that I was free, and as the tall cop had told me, Very lucky that this ended before something too extreme could happen.

I guess being raped falls under that category but I was still alive. Without realizing it, I had begun to smile. I noticed Soul was smiling back at me as well. At this, a full on grin came across me and I even let out a small giggle.

"It's finally all over Soul. I'm safe now." He smiled more as well and moved closer to hug me. Because of recent events, it was a little uncomfortable and unnerving, and I guess Soul knew that because he backed off after he was done hugging me. But I wasn't going to let him.

Ignoring the discomfort inside of me, I pulled him back over and wrapped my arms around him. He slowly hugged me back and I felt the grin on his face vanish. Confused, I pulled back to look at him, and a slight shock went down my spine when my eyes locked with his.

We'd locked eyes like this before, and I could sense the love in his stare those times, but this time... This time I was literally drowning in his emotion. I did not think it was possible to feel like I did right now. Not for a while. I'd just had my boyfriend, who I had loved for almost an entire year, arrested and taken away for a very long time. I'd never see him again. How was it that I could feel the way he made me feel not that long ago? How was it my heart could even work just yet?

Because when Black*Star had hit me that very first time, My heart had broken, and who had been there the moment I asked for help? Who had held every last shattered piece of my mind body and soul together, and hadn't let go? Who was it that I could completely trust with every secret? The one who was always there to be my ear to listen, or my shoulder to cry on?

Yeah, Soul. That was why I could feel this way. Because when my ex-boyfriend had crushed my capacity to love, Soul had taken it and repaired it with his own love. I could no longer deny those times he'd said he loved me and I pretended to imagine it. I pretended because it would make things harder.

But now I was ready to accept it. And that is why when he leaned towards me slowly, I did not hesitate to close the distance between us and kiss him with all the love he'd shown to me and more. Because to be honest, I loved Soul too. I don't know when it happened, but it did. And now here we were, together again, and sharing the love we both felt.

I felt his hands pull me as close as he could, and the discomfort that raged war in my stomach was soon banished as I began to feel only pure happiness. He pulled back from our kiss and rested his forehead against mine.

"Maka. I love you." My heart was going faster then it ever had before.

"I love you too Soul..." Our voices were only whispers.

He kissed me again, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He held me together again as I kissed him back, my hands on his head, pulling him as close as I could to deepen it.

I knew from that moment on that things would be different. A cliche line, I know, but it's just too fitting. Things really would change. Because I was with someone now that would never hurt me. Someone who I could trust entirely and who would love me for the rest of my life.

And no matter what hardships we faced, we would get through them hand in hand.

* * *

I would like to extend a very big **Thank You** to every single person who followed this story from beginning to end, and to all those who reviewed, added this to their favorites, or added me to their favorite authors.

The best of love goes out to **KamiNoMa, Sailor Sofia, RebelAngel91210 **and** KittyAttack, **for reviewing every chapter along the way.

Much love also for **RandomDancing123, Rin Winters, LiahkonaAS, mynamebecait09, fangirl from lunaescence, ubyrai, midnight-heart, stifledcreativity, Narusaku1357, Domo1383, Supreme Cookieeater NANCY, .Spazz **and **Ophianara Blade** for reviewing in general.

Favorite reviews made by **RandomDancing123, Sailor Sofia, **and **Narusaku1357.**

His hands: July 15, 2010 - October 31, 2010

**Happy Halloween!**


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